The Ones We Love
by xoxo yourstruly
Summary: It's a season of changes for the Cullens: moving to New York, and starting college. For Nessie, it's even more traumatizing as high school, relationships, and talk of imprinting come into the picture. Told from various POVs.
1. Chapter 1: Celebrations

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Ms. Meyer.  
_

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_**Renesmee**_

"Do you ever feel like you just don't belong anywhere?" I picked at the ends of my hair, trying to choose my next words carefully. The truth was that I was terrified of starting high school next week. I'd never spent much time outside of the house in the past five years, and when I had, someone had always been there. Mom, dad, Jake, Aunt Alice, Grandpa Charlie… _someone_. But after a year of begging, I'd finally gotten my wish. I was going to get to start high school. Grandpa Carlisle said that my growth rate had slowed dramatically. I was only supposed to grow two physical years per calendar year until I was fully-grown at seven. Mom thought that would be too much change at once, but Grandpa had reminded her that even human teenagers grow all strangely during puberty.

So I'd won that argument. I was going to school, but suddenly, I wasn't so sure I wanted to go alone. Over the next few days, we would be moving back to Ithaca, where I knew Grandpa and Grandma kept a house. Everyone except me would be going to Cornell. Dad said it was because no one had been to college in a while, so it would be a nice break from high school, but Aunt Alice told me it was because he didn't want to have to listen to gross teenage thoughts about me. I didn't blame him. I wanted to ask Jake if he would start school with me, but I any time I thought about it, I felt like a jerk for asking him to leave the rez.

He had a _pack_ here, and he had a home here. I couldn't ask him to leave all that just because I was scared for the first day of school.

"Ness? Nessie?" A hand waved in front of my face.

"Sorry! What?"

"Are you okay?" Concern was etched all over Jake's face, and I knew he worried about me as much as my mom and dad did sometimes.

I shook my head and let out a breath through my nose. "I'm fine. I guess I'm just nervous."

"For your party?"

I shook my head again. "No. Just for everything over the next few weeks, I guess. Moving, starting school…"

"… Turning five?" He smirked up at me.

"Shut up," I smacked his shoulder and pretended to shove him off my bed. Since he was about a thousand pounds, I knew I couldn't actually move him, but I hoped he got the sentiment. "You know what I mean."

He pulled me into a hug and put his chin on top of my head. "I know what you mean, and you really have nothing to worry about. Everyone's going to love you."

"How do you know?" I hated sounding like kid around him, but I had to get all my worries out now if I was going to enjoy my party.

"Because anyone you've ever met has loved you," he answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Would it help if I told you a certain someone got accepted to Cornell?"

I stared at him, narrowing my eyes until they were almost closed. "What are you talking about?"

"Your dad convinced me to apply a few months ago, and I figured it couldn't hurt. So I did, and," he stopped to scratch the back of his neck, "I guess I'm going to Ithaca with you guys."

I could swear my heart stopped for a minute. "You're not messing with me, right?"

"I'm not. I swear, Ness. If you want me to, I can go with you guys."

I screamed and launched myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Are you sure it's okay? What about the pack? And Billy? And—"

"Ness," he laughed, stopping me short. "I'm taking care of it. Besides, every alpha needs a college education, right?"

"But—"

"Plus Sam is still technically an alpha, and Leah's a beta. There's plenty of leaders to go around. And it's not like I'll ever really be too far away. From what we've gathered, the pack mind doesn't really have any limits." He said the last part with a scowl, but I felt relief bubble in my chest. He'd clearly put a lot of thought into this and maybe, things would be okay.

"Thank you, Jake." I hoped he knew how thankful I was for this. Now if anyone was mean, I could sic Jake on them. Not really, though. It was just a nice thought.

There was a knock on the door before it opened a crack. "Renesmee? I think your guests are starting to arrive."

"My guests?" I cocked an eyebrow in a perfect imitation of the man at the door.

"It _is _your birthday party," he smirked.

"And everyone's going away party. Technically." I gave him a sweet smile before bouncing off the bed to kiss his cheek. "I'll be right downstairs, daddy."

He nodded once to me, and once to acknowledge Jake before he headed back down the stairs.

"Ready?" I asked, reaching my arm out towards him.

Like always, he linked his arm through mine and walked me out of my room.

_**Bella**_

"Edward, are you sure it's not too soon? We could stay until she turns seven, and if you really want to go to college again, we might be able to go to the University of Washington…"

"Bella, darling, you're worrying too much," he bent over and kissed my forehead. I frowned. That was something I already knew.

I just couldn't help it. After five years of routine, everything was changing so fast. I knew this was just part of being a Cullen, but I'd never personally experienced it before, and I wasn't sure I liked it very much. For the past few days, we'd getting ready for this hybrid Nessie's 5th Birthday/Goodbye Forks party and every second of the planning was breaking my heart. I thought I could handle starting at Cornell in a few weeks, and I even thought I could handle Nessie starting high school. I just hated thinking about the fact that we were leaving Charlie and so much of out Forks family behind.

Edward kept saying we could visit whenever we wanted, but it still wouldn't be the same. I'd have to take a plane when I wanted my father's comfort or to go to the bonfires on First Beach. What if something happened while I was gone? Just the thought made me shiver. I told myself that it was completely normal for people to go off to college and leave home for a little while. Maybe I could convince everyone to move back when we finished at Cornell, though I didn't know how possible that would be.

"Heads up, Bells," I heard a voice outside my thoughts and looked up just in time to catch a bottle of mustard.

"I thought there was supposed to be a party going on here." Jake was smiling as he sauntered up to me, arm in arm with Nessie. I was glad he'd be going with us. I didn't think Nessie would cope well if she had had to leave him behind.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about how crazy it is to be leaving Forks," I shook my head.

"Like mother, like daughter," he ruffled my hair.

I swatted his hand away, and stuck my tongue out at him. "You'll be feeling it too, just wait," I teased, throwing the mustard bottle back at him a little harder than necessary. "They're your pack brothers, your responsibility," I joked, heading back into the kitchen to help Esme put together the hundreds of burgers and hot dogs the wolves would eat within half an hour.

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_Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've written my own story, so please bear with me as I get back into the swing of things. Now that I finally have a regular schedule, I'm really excited about getting to create again! I'll be updating again in a few days. See you then! _

_xoxo yours truly_


	2. Chapter 2: Moving

_Characters and world are all property of Ms. Meyer._

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**_Renesmee_**

"That's the last of it," Uncle Emmett said as he threw the last suitcase into the back of his car. Because there were so many of us, we were driving down in a caravan to the airport. Jake would be driving me to the airport, and mom and dad were going to be riding with Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper. My mom told me it was for the sake of space, but I knew she was counting on Uncle Jasper's talent to calm her as we left. I didn't think we'd be able to get her out of Forks any other way.

We all turned towards the big white house for the last time. My dad had told me that I'd see it again. That, eventually, enough time would pass that I would come to know all of the Cullen houses and that they would all feel like home. I had nodded at the time but I wasn't sure how true that was. I figured I was more like mom in this way- Forks would always be my home. I was born here. I grew up here. My family was here and my friends from La Push were here. I'd made sure to say extra goodbyes to Seth, Quil, and Embry, who had always been my favorite, and made them promise to come visit me when they had the chance. They all promised that they would.

"We'll see you when we get to the airport, sweetheart," I felt my dad's cool arm around my neck as he pulled me close to kiss the top of my head.

"I know. I'll be okay," I promised him. I'd already had my breakdown last night, and I was pretty sure my eyes were too dry to make any more tears. "This is just a new adventure, right?"

He gave me a tight smile, which meant he knew how I really felt from reading my thoughts. I always wished that I had mom's ability to keep everyone out of my head, but my dad wasn't unbearable about it. He never mentioned things he heard in my thoughts or made a big deal of it, even when I had been a little kid and lied about who had broken his favorite CD. "Exactly." He gave me one more hug before he went to put his arm around my mom's waist and usher her into Aunt Alice's car.

"Alright, shortie, we'll see you soon!" I heard Uncle Emmett call from Grandpa Carlisle's car. I waved at all of them, and caught a glimpse of them waving back just before he shut the door.

"Okay, Jake. I'm ready." I took in a deep breath, and held the Forks air in until I felt like I was going to explode.

"You sure?" he smiled, waiting for my exhale.

I breathed. "Yeah." I climbed into his Rabbit, and waited for the car in front of us to move. "Hey, Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"What's going to happen to all of the cars?" I asked, gingerly running my fingers over the dashboard to his car. I knew how much he loved it, and it twisted my stomach to know that I was the reason he was having to leave it behind.

"Well, Quil and Embry are going to come pick up mine and take it back to the rez. They're going to keep her in shape for me so I can drive her when I come back. I think Carlisle is donating the ones we're taking to the airport. Some guy's supposed to come pick them up as part of an 'anonymous donation.' All of the favorites are already waiting in Ithaca."

I nodded slowly, trying to remember when my family had shipped over all the cars. I hadn't even noticed anything the past week, except for how old Grandpa Charlie was getting and how beautifully green the trees were. Every time I pictured Ithaca, it was always gray. I hadn't let anyone show me any pictures of the city, because I didn't want to know. I figured I'd see plenty of it soon enough. For now, I wanted to cement Forks into my head forever.

* * *

**_Alice_**

It was so dreary inside the car, I felt like I was going to explode. I knew Jazz was using his gift to make Bella feel better, but I wasn't sure it was working. She'd been looking out the window for the past half hour, with a distant look in her eyes. I was sure she'd be crying if she still could. I was going to miss Forks, too, but I was excited to get to Ithaca. I'd been waiting to study the Fiber Science and Apparel Design major since I'd found out we were going there, and I couldn't wait to get started.

"It really won't be so bad," I twisted in my seat, and placed my hand on Bella's shoulder. "I promise, we're going to be visiting a lot more than you think. I know Carlisle doesn't mind chartering flights, so you really could come whenever you wanted. I bet you'll visit more than most kids in college do."

The last line made the corner of her mouth turn up, and I considered that a success. Bella hadn't been to college yet, and I knew she was having a hard time picturing what was in store for her. If only she could see what I already had- that she was going to love studying literature, and was going to be visiting her dad at least once a month. But I kept that to myself. She would have to see for herself that there was nothing to worry about.

I twisted back to face the front, letting Edward keep whispering comforting words in her ear. I swear, she was adopting his flair for the dramatic the longer they were together. I loved that girl to death, but it really wasn't as bad as she was making it seem.

I placed my hand on top of Jasper's, running my thumb over his knuckles. I knew he was excited, too. For the past weeks, he'd been ordering his American History textbooks online, and had been labeling his binders and folders. He hadn't gone to college the last time we had all gone, about fifteen years ago, so he was determined to make this time count. He struggled more than any of us when it came to sitting in the cramped, first year lecture halls, and he consciously avoided any professor's office hours for fear of being in a tiny room with a helpless human. I watched out for him every day, but I knew I wouldn't be able to see it if he accidentally hurt someone.

Still, I wanted him to enjoy his time in Ithaca, and didn't want his college experience tainted by something as silly as vampirism. I knew he was stronger than he realized and maybe, by his junior or senior year, he'd believe me.

"What are you thinking about, my little pixie?" he asked, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

"You. And how excited I am for you," I smiled up at him, tilting my head upwards to kiss his cheek.

"Already thinking about the ridiculous outfits you're going to make me wear?" He raised an eyebrow and gave me a wink.

'Well, I wouldn't do it so often, if you didn't look good in everything,' I thought to myself. "Sort of."

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**_Jacob_**

Nessie didn't say much for most of the drive, and I didn't have to be Edward to figure out why. She was sad about leaving, and nervous about where she was going. I didn't blame her. I felt exactly the same way. Sometimes I wondered if I would be so in tune with her feelings if she weren't my imprint, but I always figured that I would. Imprint or not, we were basically the same person.

I was excited to go with her, and I was excited for the chance to get to go to an Ivy League. A few weeks ago, when I had told Billy, I could've sworn he got a tear in his eye. I promised him, and my pack, that I would be back to visit as often as I could. Leah had been pissed when I told her she'd be acting as alpha for my pack, but I hadn't expected much else. She'd seen the love I had for Nessie through the pack mind, and she didn't argue with it. She just wished I could've found someone on the rez so that she wouldn't have to step up and do my job. And I know she still thought, despite everything she'd seen, that I was betraying the wolves by imprinting on a half-vampire.

I didn't yell at her for it, though, because I knew that if it had been anyone else who had imprinted on a half-vampire, I wouldn't have understood it either. It seemed to be the opposite of everything we'd been taught. But now that it had happened to me, I knew this was the right course for me, and I couldn't see my life turning out any other way.

Seth, on the other hand, had always adored Nessie, and was excited to have a friend living in New York. I told him Ithaca was _not _the same as New York City, but he told me if it was close enough to run, it was good enough for him. He'd also taken it upon himself to keep me updated on any pack news. I told him that he _really _didn't have to do that, but he just wasn't having any of it. He was a good kid, and I honestly hoped he'd be able to come visit a few times.

I replayed my goodbyes with everyone all the way to the airport. I had told Bella I was fine with everything, but like she'd predicted, it was harder than I'd expected. I knew there would be so much I would miss by going to Ithaca, but it would be worth it. I looked over at the girl sitting next to me and like always, felt a sense of ease.

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_Hey everyone! Thanks for hanging in there with me. I'm a bit rusty, but for what it's worth, I'm having a blast starting out this story for you guys. I promise things will be picking up in the next few chapters. I'll be updating again in the next few days, so keep a look out!_

_xoxo yours truly _


	3. Chapter 3: First Days Part I

_A/N- Hey guys! Just to clarify since some people had questions- Nessie is physically about 14 right now, mentally about 16/17, and about 5 calendar years old. I know the pacing is a little slow, but I'm still trying to get into the hang of my new work schedule! As soon as I can adjust, I promise all the fun drama will pick up! Hope you enjoy!_

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_Edward  
_

I'd seen the house in Esme's thoughts for the past few weeks. Though it was a house we already owned and had already lived in before, the additions of Bella and Renesmee to the family had necessitated some changes, which she had been more than happy to make. Essentially, she'd built an entirely new wing of the house that had a larger bedroom for Bella and myself, a bedroom for Renesmee and an adjoining study with the kind of tall, built-in bookshelves that she had always wanted. Esme herself had meticulously decorated each new room, and if her thoughts were any indication of the finished product, it would be magnificent.

She had offered to build a wing for Jacob, as well, but he had politely declined every time she had offered. He had decided that he was going to live away from us in an apartment closer to campus. While he did feel grateful for her offers, he wanted his first college experience to be as Jacob Black, Billy and Sarah Black's son. He didn't want to be another one of the Cullen foster children, at least not this time. Even though he knew that he would probably attend college again, he was also acutely aware of the fact that his father wouldn't always be around to watch him graduate. That would be when he would accept Esme's offer. But for now, for this very first time, he wanted to make his father proud.

Bella was squeezing my hand in anticipation of seeing the house for the first time. She had never seen this house before and I knew she was eager to see where she would be living. I had tried to describe it to her on the flight over, but I knew my descriptions wouldn't be able to do it justice. "So how far is it from the school?" she asked, turning back to me with shining eyes.

"About twenty minutes, love. Fifteen if I'm driving," I added with a wink. She scrunched up her nose and shook her head.

"I think I'm going to drive us the first couple of times," she said, turning to look outside again.

Even now that she was virtually indestructible, she felt uncomfortable with me driving. Her stubbornness never failed to impress me. "Whatever you say, love."

I could see the corners of her lips turn up in a satisfied smile. "Are you excited to start classes?"

She nodded. "I've already read all the books for my Intro to British Literature class," she admitted sheepishly, "and I'm almost done with the ones for American lit, too."

I laughed and shook my head. "Classes will get more challenging after your first year, I promise."

"I hope so! Otherwise I'm just going to stay at home and do 'independent study," she continued, making air quotes with her fingers.

"Maybe you should think about getting a PhD," I suggested, tracing my finger in circles on the back of her hand. "Dr. Bella Cullen."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," she agreed, much to my surprise. "But let's see how I get through undergrad, first."

_Renesmee_

I stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing my reflection. In preparation for my first day of high school, I had spent the last few nights watching _Clueless_, _Gossip Girl_, _Grease, Fast Times at Ridgemont High_, and _Mean Girls_ with Aunt Alice and Aunt Rose. They kept insisting that high school wasn't _really _like that, but I didn't see how twenty years of filmmakers could be wrong. So, with a weird mesh of all those movies floating around in my head, I tried to decide if I was really ready to head off to school. Luckily, the school I was going to required a uniform, so I didn't have to go through the stress of finding something 'cool' and 'trendy' to wear. The only downside was that I looked ridiculous in the uniform and no amount of tinkering by me or Aunt Alice had been able to fix it so far.

The collar on the white button down went a little too high on my neck, and the navy blue French tie I'd had to put on was still crooked. I'd never worn nude pantyhose in my life, so that was an experience, and the thick, wool skirt felt heavy on my hips. The only part of my outfit that I had actually gotten to choose were my shoes, but I'd been struck with such indecision this morning, I'd ended up in a pair of comfortable, but probably boring, black flats.

"Breathe in, breathe out," I reminded myself, hating the way the butterflies in my stomach were increasing in speed. I clipped in one last bobby pin to keep my bangs out of my eyes, stuck in some earrings my dad had gotten me just for today, and forced myself to turn away from the mirror. My school bag was already packed and waiting my the door, and I hoisted it onto my shoulder.

"Ness, you're going to do great," I was accosted by my bother the second I was out in the hallway.

"I know," I sighed, shuffling my feet as I walked. "I guess I'm just nervous because I don't really know what to expect."

"Expect to be bored out of your mind," I hear Uncle Emmett shout from downstairs and I was glad to laugh.

"That's probably true," my mom verified.

I wasn't worried so much about the schoolwork. I'd been learning sciences and languages at home since I was a baby. I was nervous because I'd never been away from my family for so long and I'd never been surrounded by so many humans at one time. I thought it would be cool to meet a friend, but I didn't know how possible that would be. I wasn't really shy or anything, but I'd never had to hide things from the people I was close to. I wasn't sure I'd be good at it.

"Jake will be here in a few minutes to take you to school," she leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "We're so proud of you, Ness."

"Thanks," I told her, even though I wasn't sure what I'd done to make her proud.

I went to sit at the kitchen table where Grandma Esme had made some bacon and sausage. I made myself eat a few bites before I gave up and went to sit on the couch. I dropped my schoolbag into my lap and dug around for the map and schedule the school had sent me a week ago. When I found them, they were crumpled and kind of torn, but I smoothed them down enough to read them. I had already memorized the map because I wasn't about to get lost on my first day of classes. I knew my schedule, too, but I still liked looking at it and imagining what those classes were going to be like.

"Ness," my dad silently appeared behind me. "I hope you have a great first day." I felt him kiss the top of my head. "If you need anything at all, feel free to call at any time. We'll all be down at Cornell so we won't be too far."

I nodded. I knew he could tell from my jumble of thoughts that I was a mess inside. 'I wish I could skip high school and go to Cornell with you guys,' I thought, frowning at the thought.

"You'd be more than capable of completing the work, my darling, but it's important to go through high school, at least once."

Again, I nodded. Dad had gone through high school at least twenty times. If he was willing to go back time after time, surely it couldn't be so bad.

"That's the spirit," he laughed, before giving me one more kiss and heading back up the stairs.

"Pictures! Pictures!"

My expression dropped. I knew my first day of school was going to be a circus. Grandma Esme, Aunt Alice, and Aunt Rose were determined to document every moment of my life, so of course they weren't about to miss this one. I normally didn't mind so much but their excitement just wasn't compatible with my frazzled nerves. I glanced at them from the corner of my eye and was relieved to see that they had brought Uncle Jasper down with them. I gave him a pleading look and instantly began to feel more relaxed. "Thank you," I mouthed.

"Alright, Ness. Outside! On the porch! We all want pictures with you before you head off for your first day!" Aunt Alice was practically beside herself with excitement.

I knew there was no point in arguing with her so I left my bag on the couch and followed her out onto the porch. First, she took a picture of just me, and then a picture of me each of my parents before she took a picture of all three of us together. I took pictures with all my aunts and uncles, both individually and in couples, and I took a picture with Grandma Esme and Grandpa Carlisle.

"Jacob's almost here," Aunt Alice finally said, frowning. She snapped one more picture of me when I wasn't looking. "Do you want to take a picture with him before you head out?"

"I wouldn't want him to feel left out," I smirked, knowing that he would probably hear me if he had his window rolled down.

We waited until he pulled into the driveway and stepped out onto the crunchy gravel of the driveway. "You're too kind, Ness." I could hear the sarcasm in his voice and my smirk turned into a full-out grin.

"I know, I know. Now get over here so we can get going."

"I didn't know you were so excited to go to school," he laughed as he stepped up the porch stairs and took his place next to me.

"I'm not. I'm just ready to be done with pictures."

"Good point."

"Ready? One… Two… Three!" Aunt Alice took a few more pictures before she tucked the camera away.

Everyone wished me good luck at school and headed back inside except my mom and dad.

I felt my dad's cool hand wrap around my shoulders and I buried my face into his chest, the anxiety returning in waves now that Uncle Jasper was gone. "You're going to do just fine, darling," he assured me. I wanted to believe him, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it.

"Like we said, if you need anything at all, just call one of us," my mom reminded me as she took her turn to pull me into her arms and bury her face in my hair. "My little Ness, all grown up."

She was starting to get choked up and I knew she was going to break into the vampire cry at any second.

Jake clapped his hands together and my mom took a step back to I could see her face. Just like I had predicted, her eyes were getting squinty and face was preparing itself to cry tears that couldn't come. "Well! We should probably get going. Wouldn't want to be late on the first day."

I shot him a grateful look. Within seconds, I had gone inside, grabbed my bag, and come back to the porch. "I promise, mom and dad, I'll let you guys know if anything comes up." I gave them one last kiss before I followed Jake down the porch stairs. He held the passenger door open for me and I stepped in, settling myself into the seat as he walked around the front of the car.

"Ready for your first day?"

I rolled my eyes and let out a huff. "Are _you _ready for _your _first day in college?"

He shuddered and shook his head. "Probably not, but I figure I might as well get it over with."

I shook my head. "I still don't see why I can't be home-schooled…"

Jake laughed and looked over at me. "Socialization is good for you, Ness."

"I can always socialize at home! I can socialize with my dad, with Aunt Alice, with you."

"Okay then, let me rephrase that. Meeting new people is good for you."

I scrunched my nose. That was something I didn't quite believe.

"Besides," he continued, "everybody's going to love you. With how adorable you look in that uniform, I don't see how they couldn't."

I felt my face go blank as I thought about my uniform again. For a few minutes, I had forgotten I had been wearing it. Now that I remembered, all I could think about was the stiff collar and the crooked tie. "Hm," was all I could bring myself to say.


	4. Chapter 4: First Days: Part II

**_Renesmee_**

The whole ride to school, Jacob had told me some of his high school stories, like he was trying to convince me that it wouldn't be so bad. I loved listening to him talk, and I was starting to feel a little better about my first day, but that feeling went away as I was watched his car drive away. The minute I stepped out of his car, I felt more alone than I'd ever felt before. Around me, I heard the voices of people who were actually excited to be there. I stood there for another minute, hoping that he'd feel bad enough for me that he'd come back and take me to Cornell instead. When I realized he wasn't going to, I sighed and turned towards the school.

Even though I had memorized the map of the school a week ago when it had come in the mail, I pulled it out of my backpack anyway. The last thing I needed to do today was to show up in the wrong class and make a fool of myself. I had Algebra first, and I was glad. My dad had taught me some Algebra last summer so I wouldn't have to worry about paying attention in that class.

With the help of my map and near perfect memory, I got to class ten minutes early. No one else was there yet, which was slightly awkward, but at least finding a seat would be easy. I ended up picking one dead in the middle. It seemed like the safest way to go. I, apparently, wasn't the only one with that idea. The middle of the classroom filled up first, then the back. The stragglers had to sit in the front.

When the bell rang, I had my notebook and pencil out, but everyone else was still in clusters all over the room, catching up on their summer vacation and getting a head start on the school year gossip. I had just opened my notebook and was about to start drawing in the margin when I heard a pencil tapping on my desk. I looked up and saw a boy smiling at me, tapping the eraser on his pencil on my desk over and over again.

"Hi." I tried to smile even though I was confused and slightly annoyed.

"Hi. My name's Aaron." He took a pause before pre-empting my question. "And it's just too early to look so bored."

"But it's not too early to harass someone with repetitive noises?" I smirked, leveling my gaze with his. I guess it was probably because I spent most of my time with vampires and Quileute kids, but I had never seen anyone with eyes so blue. They were a bright blue, almost blindingly clear. I almost couldn't help but wonder if he didn't have some supernatural in him, too. From the way his eyes were shining, I knew he had a retort, but when he opened his mouth, all he said was, "Touché."

Finally, the teacher came in. Aaron turned around and everyone else went back to their seats. I started my sketching in my notebook while the teacher went over the syllabus. My dad had hinted at the possibility that the first day of school might be a colossal waste of time and I was disappointed to see that he was right. At least I'd get some good drawing time in. Maybe I could draw something for Jake. I smiled as my aimless doodling became the outline of a wolf.

I had just finished drawing the ears when the bell rang. I packed up my things, still thinking about what I could add to my drawing during my next class. In English, I added trees and a moon and in biology, I added a cute little house and a more elaborate sky. In World Geography, I added a second wolf and signed my name on it just before lunch.

I'd been dreading the cafeteria for at least half of summer vacation. Luckily, the issue on where to sit would have to wait until tomorrow. Today, the counselors were having a meeting for all of the new kids to "see how we were adjusting." I walked into the tiny counselor's office and sat in one of the chairs she'd set up into a circle. As usual, I was one of the first people there so I got to experience the awkward silence that follows all new kids on their first day of school.

As the chairs filled up, a few of the more social kids started talking. the girl next to me was complaining about the uselessness of the first day. I decided I liked her. " think I'd be less cranky if I didn't have to wear this fucking tie," she finished with a scowl, pulling against the tie that actually looked adorable on her. "I'm sorry, you must probably think I'm insane. I'm Rheanna."

"I'm Renesmee. and at least yours will stay on straight!" I laughed, fixing my own stupid tie.

"I had to pin it to my shirt," she told me, lifting it up enough for me to see the metal pins tying it down.

"Smart," I said, making a mental note to try that tomorrow.

**_Bella_**

When I became a vampire, there were certain things I'd knew I'd be giving up: my blush, my lack of coordination, a love of chocolate. I had thought that I'd never feel butterflies in my stomach again, but of course, on cue, there they were on my first day of college.

That morning, I had almost convinced myself, and Edward, that it wasn't a good idea for me to go, but he was so excited for me and convinced that I would love it. I decided one week couldn't hurt. If I still hated it by then, I'd stop going and try again later. Or not.

"You're going to have an incredible first day," he promised for the hundredth time as we climbed into his new, but still silver, Volvo.

"That's what I hear," I sighed, dropping my bag into the backseat. For weeks, Alice had tried to convince me to bring a stylish messenger bag or monogrammed tote bag, but I eventually wore her down. I'd ended up picking, and sticking with, a simple blue backpack. Sturdy. No frills. It was perfect.

"Now, the first few days might not seem like much, but as the semester progresses, the classes will get more challenging," he explained. I knew he was just worried that I would hate it. I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"I know how school works, love. I promise, I'm going to give it a shot."

His bodily visibly relaxed. "Thank you." He picked my hand off of his shoulder and kissed the top of it. "So, my little bookworm, are you pleased with your choice of major?"

More butterflies. "I think so. Comparative literature sounds like a good mix of reading and writing. Probably seems super easy to you, though, Mr. Psychology," I teased.

The corner of his lips turned up into my favorite crooked smile and his eyes shone. "The English language is a formidable beast in its own right. If I remember, it was a rigorous curriculum at Harvard." He turned to me and grinned. "I am excited to study Psychology, though. I've done most of the sciences… I don't know how I managed to skip this one."

"Well, you'll probably be great at it, like you are at everything else."

He put his hand over mine and shook his head. "I only wish I was half as good as you think I am."

After everything we'd been through together, I still didn't know what to say when he put himself down like that. Instead of trying to come up with something witty, I pursed my lips and looked out the window. "Oh hell, we're almost there." I let out an unnecessary breath and started fidgeting. I guess nervous habits die hard.

Edward parked the car in the half empty lot, leaned over, and kissed my forehead. "It's going to be fine, love."

I made a disbelieving sound and grabbed my backpack from the back. I guess it was too late to back out now. I only let Edward give me one more kiss, knowing that if he stuck around, it'd be that much harder to make myself go to class. We both only had two, fifty minute classes today so I'd see him soon enough.

It wasn't hard to find the English building. I'd seen pictures of it online, and I had looked at some of the campus maps. Even though I hadn't exactly been looking forward to today, but I at least wanted to be prepared. I made it to British Literature, pleasantly surprised that it was going to be a class of about fifty. I'd grown to like large groups of people in the past few years. It made it easier to blend in. I picked a seat close to the door, just in case anything happened, and pulled out my copy of Frankenstein and a notebook. This was one of the few classes that had emailed out homework assignments before the semester had started, and I'd already finished reading the book. I'd avoided marking in the book, though, so people wouldn't know that I'd finished the thing.

As the classroom filled up, I realized that the majority of the other students were boys. I hoped for Edward's sake that the science building was miles and miles away from the English building. If not, I could picture the heart attack that he was no doubt having. I pulled my shield back and sent him a little, mental love note. "I love you. Don't worry. Have a great day."

The last class of the day was the one I'd been looking forward to the most. Since the school didn't offer music classes past the fifth grade, the only alternative was band. Even though middle school band was technically required to be able to do band in high school, the directors had let me audition anyway. With help from my dad and Aunt Rose, I'd gotten into the top band for flute and piano. The director had liked both so much that he had offered to let me alternate between the two. I'd play piano when the score called for a piano, and flute all the other times. Music was one of those things my dad had made me a nerd about and I was ready to put my fingers on some keys.

**_Renesmee_**

When I walked into the band hall, everyone stared at me. I understood it though- they probably hadn't seen a new kid in band since sixth grade.

"Nice to see you again," I heard a voice say from behind me. It was the blonde kid from Algebra with the super blue eyes. I normally had a pretty good memory but I hadn't been paying attention when he had introduced himself earlier this morning.

"Hey." I kept it short, putting my back down as I picked up my flute case from the instrument shelf.

"How has your first day been, Renesmee?" he asked, smirking. He knew I'd forgotten his name.

"I didn't think I introduced myself this morning."

"You didn't," but I heard when Ms. Fisher called roll. Your name caught my attention. I'm Aaron, by the way," he smirked at me one more time before he walked away, blowing into the mouthpiece of his trumpet. What an obnoxious kid.

I thought about how irksome he was as I assembled my flute. Even though I'd only been playing for about a year, Aunt Rose had me sounding as good as a professional. Sometimes it was nice having such a freakishly talented family.

There weren't any assigned seats in band, so I just took the one at the end next to an agitated looking girl. She looked at me once, looked away, and looked back again, registering the fact that I was a new student.

"I'm sorry," she said as soon as I sat down. "I promise I'm usually in a better mood than this. It's just been one of those days."

"It's okay. I know how those can be."

She gave me a grateful smile and went back to glaring at her phone. "Asshole," she muttered. It was awkward pretending I couldn't' hear her.

"I'm sorry," she said again, turning towards me. "My boyfriend just thinks it's funny to ignore me for long periods of time."

I frowned and pursed my lips. I didn't really want to get in the middle of drama on my first day, but she looked so pitiful, I couldn't help but feel bad for her. "That doesn't sound very nice."

"Yeah," she sighed, "sometimes he's not very nice. I'm Tati, by the way. Tati St. Clair." She extended her hand towards me.

I shook it, relieved o finally have made a friend today. "Renesmee Cullen. Nessie, for shirt."

She smiled. "Like the Loch Ness monster?"

I wasn't sure whether I should have been offended or not, but her expression was so good-natured, I figured she wasn't making fun of me. Yeah, my family gets a kick out of that, too."

Grandma Esme had made an entire fest to celebrate our finishing our first days. Even though Jake was the only one who really ate human food, she had made enough food for a football team.

"If this is the welcome back we get, I wish we had first days of school more often," Jake said halfway through dinner, stuffing another roll in his mouth.

"Not me," mom shook her head.

"Was it that bad?" Aunt Alice asked gently, even though she probably would've foreseen if something really bad would've happened.

"No," she admitted. "I just don't like it. And I don't like the fact that I have another first day tomorrow, either."

Uncle Emmett broke into a huge grin. I think he liked teasing mom. "That's the joy of a block schedule, little lady."

"And how was your first day, Emmett?" Grandma Esme asked across the table, saving my mom from even more teasing. Jake had told me stories about how back in the day, Uncle Emmett had teased my mom mercilessly for all of the silly human things she did. Even though she didn't blush or fall down anymore, he still found things to harass her about. I figured it was just the way their relationship was.

While Emmett told a story about scaring some football player half to death just by cracking his knuckles, I snuck my hand onto Jake's leg and showed him flashes of him and me out on the porch swing. I'd been looking forward to hanging out with him since the minute he'd dropped me off at school. I couldn't wait to hear all about his first day. In the car, he'd kept asking me questions, and I didn't realize until we were home that I had done most of the talking. But college was probably way more exciting to high school, and I wanted to hear all about it.

My mind started drawing up a mental picture of him being surrounded by girls in Cornell tank tops dawning over his muscles and laughing in too-high voices. A growl started to build in my chest, and I had to completely change my train of thought before I wrecked the dining room table. I had never really been the jealous type, but it was hard not to feel insecure when my best friend was about to started spending all of his time with college girls. He'd been my best friend for as long as I could remember. I couldn't stand it if some random girl tried to steal him away now.

Once Jake and I were out on the porch swing, I repeated my fears to Jake, showing him the mental pictures I'd come up with. He laughed and wrapped me up in a hug. "I couldn't ever find anyone half as interesting as you, Nessie Cullen."

I felt a little better, but I couldn't stop frowning. "Yeah, but what if you get a girlfriend, and she doesn't want you to spend so much time with a high schooler?" I felt my heart speed up in anger, something I didn't even know could happen.

"That's not going to happen, I promise."

"Yeah, but how can you _know_?" I insisted, burying my face into his chest. I hated to admit it, but I knew that if I looked at him, I would cry.

"I just know. I promise, I won't let college steal my away from you," he laughed a little and I felt it vibrate in his chest. I couldn't help but smile. "You're the one with the budding social life, over here. I wouldn't be surprised if you stopped having time to hang out with me," he said. I could tell from his tone that he was joking, but I still didn't like it.

"I don't think two conversations really qualifies as a budding social life," I rolled my eyes and finally pulled myself away from him. When I had been telling Jake about my day earlier, I had left out the parts about Aaron. I'd probably never talk to Aaron again, so I figured I wouldn't make a big deal about it.

"Yeah, but two conversations leads to four, leads to sixteen, leads to a hundred."

I gave him a disbelieving look and shook my head. "You are so crazy."

In the next second, my parents were out on the porch with us, looking at me expectantly. "Alright, Nessie. It's time to call it a day," dad said, helping me up off of the porch swing.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ness," Jake promised, standing up to give me one more hug.

I wrapped my arms around him as much as I could and breathed in his scent one more time. "Yep. I can't wait!" I told him. "Well, I can't wait to see you. I can definitely wait for school," I added.

I swear I could hear my dad rolling his eyes behind me.

I went back inside the house and heard Jake saying goodbye to my parents. I still didn't understand why he didn't want to live at the big house with us, but I knew he had his reasons. Hopefully, he'd be spending a lot of time here. I already missed him.


	5. Chapter 5: Life

_**Jacob**_

I liked going to college. I hadn't been so sure at first since I had never really been a school person but college wasn't like high school. I got to pick my own classes and most of the things I learned in those classes were pretty interesting.

I had decided to major in engineering. I had never really been good at English, but I'd been pretty decent at math for as long as I could remember. One of the good things about the engineering classes was that they weren't too big or crowded. The downside to that was that if one person in your class annoyed you, you were pretty much guaranteed to have that person in at least one of your classes for all four years. At least that's what my professors told me. I hoped it wasn't true. I'd already managed to pick up a semi-stalker and I was eager to shake her.

Her name was Elle and she was a nice enough girl. In another life, I might've even thought she was cute. But the fact was, she couldn't hold a candle to Ness in any way and I just wasn't interested. Elle didn't seem to get the hint though and I somehow kept getting landed with her as my partner for all of our group projects. Normally, the projects were short enough for us to finish in class but the one we'd just been assigned was going to be a beast. Professor Beatty estimated it would take us about thirty outside-of-class hours. Yeah, screw you too, Professor Beatty.

It was looking pretty inevitable that at some point, I was going to have to meet up with Elle after school.

"You live off campus, right?" Elle asked as we were leaving class on Friday.

I was reluctant to answer. "I guess."

"Why don't we just meet at your place this Saturday?"

I frowned. This Saturday I was supposed to pick Ness up from a weekend band rehearsal and then we were going to go have a board game night at her house. "I'm kind of busy Saturday most of the day."

"We can meet later in the day."

I froze as I was zipping up my backpack. "What about Sunday?"

Now it was her turn to frown. "I'm going into the City on Sunday."

I rolled my eyes to the ceiling and gave myself a moment to calm down. "Fine then. Saturday. We can meet at the library. My place is a mess."

"The computers on campus are down Saturday night. Remember that email we got?"

Nope. "Fine. I'm at 87 Oakwood Trail, apartment 3B. I'll be there around 8."

She nodded once. "Got it! I'll see you then!"

I tacked a smile onto my face and hauled ass out of there.

**_Renesmee_**

I guess it was the vampire in me, but I had never needed a lot of sleep. Even now that I was starting my very first, school year weekend, I was up at seven and feeling good. That was fine by me, though. I hated feeling like I was missing out on something while I was sleeping, and in a family that never slept, I usually was.

My parents were the first people I saw once I got to the bottom floor. They were sitting at the breakfast table, reading through the newspaper. Dad put his paper down and smiled up at me. "Good morning, Renesmee. Can I interest you in any breakfast?"

I considered it. As I'd gotten older, my palate had balanced out. I liked blood and I liked some human food- mostly things that came from animals. "Maybe… Bacon and ham?" I asked, pulling up a chair next to my mom. By the time my butt hit the seat he was at the stove.

"Coming right up, little love."

"Where's everyone else?" I asked, peering over mom's shoulder at the paper.

"Most of them are out hunting. Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper are at the library."

"At Cornell?"

Mom nodded and adjusted her paper so I could read along better.

"I want to go to that library," I thought out loud. I'd never actually seen Cornell and I wanted to know where my entire family was spending their days.

"We'd love to take you," dad said from the kitchen.

I smiled and shifted in my seat, letting my mom go back to her super speed reading. I loved to share the paper with her but I knew I just slowed her down. Besides, I had to text Jake and see when he would be over.

When we had first moved to New York, I'd half-hoped that Jake would be moving in with the rest of us. Our house had three stories, so there was definitely enough room for him. Plus there were plenty of bedrooms to go around. But he had wanted to live in an apartment closer to school. Luckily, he still spent most of his time at my house anyway, so I never had to miss him too much. Plus, it might be nice to have a place to hang out where people couldn't read my thoughts. I normally forgot that dad could read my thoughts, but I figured that sometimes he could use a break from me. High school had filled my brain with all sorts of nonsense.

I typed up a text to Jake and looked up to see a plate of delicious breakfast meats being placed down in front of me. Dad sat back down across from me.

"So how's your first week been?" He asked just as I had taken a huge bite of ham.

I answered with my thoughts. '_Way to wait until I had my mouth full!'_ Dad laughed and mom scowled. She hated it when anyone had nonverbal conversations with dad. She said she liked to know what the people around her were talking about.

When I finally finished chewing, I answered out loud. "Pretty good. Tati's still having problems with graham, and it makes her cranky. Her friend Raegan told me this happens pretty often though." I shook my head, unable to imagine why anyone would want to date such a scumbag. "And Rheanna's doing well. She thinks Aaron is annoying too, so she helps me avoid him."

"Nessie…" my mom began in a warning tone.

I knew what was coming next. "I'm not mean to him, I promise. Even if I was, I don't think he'd really notice, anyway. Everyone in school seems to be in love with him."

Dad smirked, but didn't say anything. I was suddenly glad that he'd decided not to go to school with me this time around,

I finished eating my breakfast as my parents told me stories about their classes, and the wacky people that were their classmates. I loved hearing about college. It seemed like, when I finally got there, I would like it a lot. I don't know if they finished talking because they heard Jake coming or if it was just a coincidence but they were just standing up when the doorbell rang.

"We'll be in the library if you want to join us later," mom told me, kissing my forehead before disappearing up the stairs. I guess I was going to answer the door, then.

It was always nice to see Jake in the morning. He always smelled nice and clean. Like soap, clean laundry, and a tiny bit like the woods in Forks. "Hey!" I said as soon as I swung the door open, throwing my arms around him.

"Hey, shorty. What are we up to today?"

I punched him in the arm the way I always did when he made jokes about my height. After all, I was the normal sized one. It wasn't my fault that he was a giant. "I don't know. I figured we could watch some TV before game night. Maybe run outside some." I knew what his response was going to be before his face even registered my words. It was going to be the same response he had every time I suggested activities.

"Sounds perfect!"

I beat him to the couch and snatched up the remote control. "Ha!" I grinned triumphantly, waving the remote in my hand to show him my conquest.

"Fine, fine," he sighed dramatically, collapsing onto the couch with so much force, that I almost fell off my cushion. "You better pick something good, though."

I rolled my eyes. For as long as I could remember, he had always wanted to watch what I wanted to watch. As far as TV was concerned, I was incapable of making a bad decision. Still, I nodded seriously and begun flipping through the channels. I'd been watching BBC America a lot lately with Grandpa Carlisle and my dad so when we got to that channel, I just left it there.

Jake settled into his seat, his eyes looking at the TV like I had picked the most incredible channel in the world.

**_Jasper_**

"I've always liked libraries," I said, thinking of how peaceful the atmosphere was almost every time I went. The one at Cornell was especially gorgeous and calm when you went on the weekends. There was also plenty of seating so I could always find a spot away from the human students. That way, nobody would notice how quickly I read. I knew libraries weren't really my Alice's style, but she did enjoy looking at some of the old fashion magazines in the archives. I always joked that they were like scrapbooks for her.

Alice and I had managed to keep ourselves entertained for the better part of the day, settled in arm chairs by the window. We were only leaving now because Esme had roped us into a family game night. And I was pretty sure my pixie was itching to be loud again.

"Thanks for coming with me, darling." She had her hands in her lap so I reached over to hold one. I expected something by way of reply, at least a hand squeeze, but I got nothing in response. I had just turned to look at her when the mood in the car plummeted. My stomach sank and twisted, and I felt the tightness in my chest that would've preceded crying had I still been able to cry.

I held her motionless had, waiting for her to come back to me. The minutes dragged. Finally, I heard her choke out her version of a sob. "Alice, are you okay?"  
She shook her head, her face still twisted in a grimace. "Someone's going to die, Jazz." She must have noticed the way I tensed up because she continued quickly. "No one we know. There's going to be a car accident one day while it's raining. The front of the car's going to catch fire and then explode." She paused again. I knew she wouldn't have seen it if one of us hadn't been involved in some way. So I waited.

"There's going to be a baby in a back. Tiny." She stopped again. "And you're going to pull it out of the car before it explodes."

I stopped pretending to look at the road and turned completely around to face her. I could feel the confusion rolling off her body, but that didn't stop me from asking. "Why would I do that?"

Her scowl deepened.

"What are we going to do with a human baby? When is it going to happen?"

She shook her head over and over, looking close to tears. "I don't know. I'm sorry. I just don't know."

Despite everything I wanted to know, I let it drop. I could only hope that she would have another vision about it so that we could find out more. I didn't understand why she would've seen this. I hadn't decided to save anyone from a burning car. I thought for another second. If I knew that there was a child facing an avoidable, painful death, I didn't think I'd save it. But apparently, I would. Even though I was still confused, I held my head a little higher. Maybe I should have more faith in this clearly impulsive, future version of myself.

We were silent the rest of the ride, but I kept holding on to her hand. As bothersome as it was for me to not know my own motives, I could only imagine how she felt. She was so used to having all of the answers.

As we neared the house, I wondered if I should stop thinking about Alice's vision around Edward. I decided it didn't matter. He'd find out eventually anyway.

Alice must have been replaying the scene in her head because when we got home, Edward was on the front porch swing with Bella. He looked nonchalant, like he had just randomly decided he wanted to sit outside and take in the gloomy, cloudy day. Next to him, Bella looked overwhelmed. I could only guess he had told her what he had seen in our minds.

I was glad he hadn't told Rosalie. I loved her but that woman was unpredictable when it came to babies, even future human ones we didn't actually know yet.

I didn't rush Alice out of the car. She was still shaken and probably wary of the reception that awaited her. When we final did get to the porch, Edward stood up. He must've seen in our thoughts that we didn't know any more than he did, because when he finally spoke, all he said was, "We're torn between the Game of Life and Monopoly."

"Since we're all immortal, we might actually live long enough to finish the game!" Bella added.

"I vote for the game of life," I said before turning to Alice.

"Same," she agreed. There were few things she hated more than games that involved planning and forethought. She could always predict the other players' moves. Even though it helped her win, she liked being surprised sometimes. Life was nice and random.

In the few seconds it took us to get inside, Emmett had managed to set up the board. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Edward all looked a little disappointed, but the excitement radiating off of Emmett and Renesmee was more than enough to keep the mood in the room buoyant.

We ended up having to play in teams since there weren't enough game piece cars for all of us. Since all of the couples paired up with each other, Renesmee and Jacob ended up being partners. I could feel the exultation that was exploding from Jacob and the innocent indifference coming from Renesmee. Sometimes I couldn't help but wonder how long it would take her to figure it all out.

**_Jacob_**

Edward had ended up winning the game, even though he hadn't even wanted to play in the first place. Bella had started going on about how money wasn't really the indicator of a life well-lived but Edward had just pointed to the rule book and said that Milton Bradley disagreed with her. All the vamps were about to put in a movie when I realized I had to head to my apartment. Crazy girl was due in at my apartment in about half an hour.

"Alright, well this was fun, but I have to get going," I announced, jumping up from my seat at the dining room table.

"Good," Bella teased, sticking her tongue out at me as she packed the game back into its box.

I scrunched my face up at her and laughed.

"Where are you going?" Ness asked, looking up at me.

"I have to go to my apartment. I'm working on a group project tonight."

"On a Saturday night?" she cocked an eyebrow, her lips turning up into a smirk. "Aren't you just the life of the party?"

"Well, little miss sassy pants," I scrunched my face up at her like I had at her mother, "College can't be all fun."

"Are you sure you don't have a hot date?" Her smile got even bigger. She was having fun with this.

I groaned inwardly. Ness couldn't have been further off if she had tried. "Pretty sure. Did I mention we didn't get to pick our partners for this project?"

"And who did you end up getting partnered with?" she continued. She was relentless.

"Some girl. Look, I gotta get going."

She got up and followed me up to the front door. "Can I come?"

I didn't even have to think twice about it. Anything else in the world would be better than spending my Saturday night with Elle but spending my Saturday night with Ness was the best thing I could imagine. "Sure."

* * *

_A/N: Hey guys! I'm finally used to my new work schedule and have carved out times for me to work on the story! Which hopefully means I'll have more chances to update! Sometime in the next few days, I'm also going to take the time to go through and edit the chapters that have been posted. I get so excited when I finish a chapter that I forgot to proofread sometimes! Anyway, feel free to leave me a review telling me what you guys think! _


	6. Chapter 6

_Jacob_

It had been a week since I'd invited Ness to crash the study session at my apartment and since then, Elle had stepped up her craziness. Like I'd predicted, she'd been pissed when Ness showed up and had spent the entire time ignoring her. I guess all things considered, it could have gone much worse but it drove me insane when people were anything less than nice to my imprint. I knew Nessie had picked up on the tension too, but being the amazing girl she was, she didn't say anything.

Even though me and Elle had mostly finished our project over the weekend, she kept trying to tell me that there was so much left to do and that she _had _to come over. I fell for it a grand total of one time before I realized what she was doing. After that, I told her I had caught the flu and had throw up all over the carpet. I figured that would keep her quiet for a couple of days.

We turned in the project that Friday and I drove straight over to the Cullens' house. I used the key that Esme had given me when we first moved here and thundered through the back door.

"Excuse you." Bella was peering up at me over the top of the magazine she was reading. "I didn't realize you and that door were mortal enemies."

I rolled my eyes and sat in the chair across from her, this time making an effort to be a little more careful with the furniture. "Sorry, Bells. If it turns out to be broken, I'll fix it."

She waved her hand and put down her magazine. "Don't worry about it. We've all been known to break a piece of furniture now and again. Now, I'm about to give you some bad news and I don't want you to take it out on the table."

"Ha ha."

"Ness isn't here right now. She had to stay after school for band practice."

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. I had been counting on her to make my day better. It had been kind of stupid of me to assume she'd just be at her house waiting for me.

"It's supposed to be over at five though, so you're welcome to stick around and wait."

I didn't even bother to look up. "Thanks. I think I will. Where's your mind-reader?"

I heard her laugh. "He and Alice went hunting. I think to avoid the tense vibes Jasper's been giving out."

I put my hands down on the table and raised an eyebrow. "What's his deal?"

Her eyes went wide for a second and she pursed her lips. Classic Bella, spilling secrets without even meaning to do it. She started chewing on her bottom look and gave me a pleading look, silently asking me to shut up. "Forget I mentioned it."

"Bells, if it's something important—"

"It's not. Not yet, anyway. Don't worry about it." There it was again, the silent request for me to shut up. "What's new with you?"

Initially, I hadn't planned to unload all of my problems on her, but they all seemed to spill out of my mouth. She looked at me with an understanding expression and reached out to pat my hand a few times.

"Sounds like somebody's got a little crush," she sang, smirking at me.

"I don't know how you can be so blasé about someone coming after your daughter's future husband."

This time, it was her turn to scowl and she patted me with a little more force than necessary. I heard a crack spread through the wood of the table. "Too soon?" I asked, shaking out my hand and arranging my fingers so that the bones would heal properly.

"It is always going to be too soon, Jake. Anyway, sounds like you just need to tell her you're not interested. _Then _if she doesn't back off, we can come up with…"

"Are we giving the dog dating lessons today?" I turned around and Blondie was at the foot of the staircase. I hadn't even heard her come down.

"Kind of," Bells answered, "He's trying to figure out how to deal with a stalker."

Rosalie burst out in laughed. Of course.

I know that after I had first imprinted on Nessie, Bella had kind of hoped me and Rosalie would make amends. Heck, even I thought it was inevitable that we would start getting along with each other, but that hadn't turned out to be the case. Though she stopped trying to throw me out all the time and had stopped trying to feed me out of a dog bowl, she still loved laughing at my problems. I still managed to tease her all the time too, though, so I guess we were even.

"You have a stalker? Why on Earth would someone want to be around that wet dog smell all day?"

I was about to make some sarcastic comment about Ness wanting to be around me all day but decided that, for Bella's sake, one imprinting joke was enough for today. "Beats me."

"Just tell her to leave you alone," she suggested, flipping her hair over her shoulder and disappearing into the living room. "If that doesn't work, do you want _me _to tell her to leave you alone?"

Bella and I exchanged frightened glances and she frantically shook her head. "I think I'm good. I want her to leave me alone, not collapse into a corner crying."

She popped her head back into the kitchen long enough for me to see her scowl and then disappeared again. This time, I heard the front door closing behind her.

Bella shook her head and sighed, like me and Blondie's relationship was the bane of her existence. "Worst case scenario is that you just wait out the semester and then avoid her for the rest of your college career."

I thought about it briefly but that wasn't going to be a viable plan. "With my luck, we'd end up picking the same classes every semester. That's the problem with the engineering department. It's a little small." Why hadn't I chosen something more popular, like general studies? There were seriously hundreds of kids in that degree program.

"You can handle it. I have faith in you. And if all else fails, really maybe asking Rosalie to help you out wouldn't be the worst idea."

_Renesmee_

I usually liked band, but on Friday afternoon, it was the last thing I wanted to be doing. When it was finally five, I packed up my flute as fast as I could. Dad had already texted me that he was out in the parking lot and I didn't really want to stick around.

"Cullen."

I jumped and dropped my case. For having super senses, people snuck up on me _a lot. _I had to ask dad about this. Maybe half-vampire senses faded over time or something? "Hi Aaron," I answered as politely as I could.

"Hey," he said with a smile that was so genuinely happy, it made me feel horrible for not wanting to talk to him. "Look, I know that practice has kind of taken up most of our Friday but Austin, Brett and I were going out to eat after this and then maybe catch a movie. Would you maybe be interested?"

The honest answer was 'no' but if I said it too fast, I knew that it would sound rude.

I guess he noticed my hesitation because he continued. "Look, you've literally managed to avoid hanging out with us every day for the past two weeks."

I was going to argue but realized it was the truth.

"And if you want, you don't even have to go to the movie but it'd probably be good for you to get some social interaction every once in a while." He finished with an infuriating smirk that kind of made me want to slap him.

"I get social interaction…"

He cocked an eyebrow, his eyes still shining. For a split second, I could see why all of my friends thought he was attractive. There was something about the way he held himself and about the way he talked. Like he knew how gorgeous and clever and witty he was.

"You can say no," he offered, "But just know that I'm going to keep asking you until you say yes."

Since I didn't want to deal with him any longer than I had to, I agreed but I made sure my tone let him know how un-enthused I was about this whole thing. "I'm bringing my friends," I said. I didn't know if Rheanna and Tati had any plans but even if they did, they were going to have to cancel them. I wasn't going to go by myself. I didn't want to give Aaron the wrong idea. I knew he was probably used to winning girls over without even trying but whatever his freaky gift was, it wasn't working on me. For a moment I wondered if there was something wrong with me. Clearly I was in the minority of girls who did not find him attractive and, objectively, I knew that I probably should. He looked like a scruffy, endearing version of an underwear model and every once in a while, he was enticingly humble and thoughtful. But it just wasn't working for me. Actually, when I stopped and thought about it, I couldn't remember ever having a crush on anyone.

Every day at lunch, Rheanna would talk about the boys she had kissed or the boys she had dumped. Even the other people we usually sat with had some kind of dating story, but I had nothing. I wondered if it was because I'd been homeschooled. Rheanna had told me once that that was probably it. "But you're really pretty, so I'm sure the boys will come soon enough," she had assured me, patting my shoulder.

My phone vibrated against the music stand and a message from my dad scrolled across the screen. "Your curfew is nine. Have fun, Renesmee." I frowned and then I thought really loudly, 'If you really loved me, you'd get me out of this.' I swear I could hear him laughing out in the parking lot.

"I think my ride home just left actually," I frowned, looking at my stand as long as possible to avoid eye contact. I didn't have to look at him to know he was smiling and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Austin give him what he probably thought was a sneaky high five.

Once he walked away, I turned to Rheanna and Tati, ready to full out beg.  
"Will you come?" Rheanna agreed right away but Tati hesitated. "Please?" I gave her a meaningful look. What I was thinking was, 'Rheanna is insane, please don't make me go with just her.' I wasn't sure if I got that point across, but a few moments later, she agreed to come with us.

They both started to get excited but I just couldn't get into it. I had been looking forward to spending some time with my family and Jake. I knew I probably sounded like the lamest person ever to the outside world but I honestly _liked _spending all of my time with them. It was the only time I could be honest about who I was.

I grabbed my phone and wrote a quick message to Jake, explaining what had happened. Knowing him, he was probably already at my house waiting for me. Thinking about it brought a smile to my lips.

"I knew you'd get excited," Rheanna elbowed me and gave me a knowing smile.

Not exactly. I sighed and nodded, though. Sometimes I wished that I could tell my friends about everything. If they knew I was a half-vampire with a full-vampire family and a werewolf best friend, they might not have been so keen to get me to date. Not one second after I had put my things away, Aaron and Austin came up to me, towing along their less obnoxious friend, Brett. "Okay, you ready?" Aaron asked, clapping his hands together with too much enthusiasm.

They decided to go out to dinner. I guess it made sense, since most humans would have been hungry by then. I didn't need to eat as often as other people, so I stuck with some water and nibbled at the appetizers they had ordered.

Next to me, Rheanna was deep in a conversation with Brett. I had never heard him say more than three words, but he was apparently charming her. She kept giggling and kicking my leg under the table. I wanted to kick her back but I was afraid that I'd send her flying through the wall.

I think Tati was trying to be the dutiful wing-woman and was keeping Austin occupied, but you could tell from the way she'd yawn and stare at the paintings on the wall that she was regretting her decision to come. That left Aaron free to pay me all of the attention in the word. Wonderful.

"So you moved here from Washington? DC or state?"

"State."

"I heard it rains a lot there."

I nodded once.

"So why'd you and your family move?"

"My dad teaches at Cornell part-time and some of my older siblings go there," I answered easily.

"That's pretty cool. What part of town do you guys live in?"

"I don't really know names of neighborhoods yet," I said, "But we're kind of isolated out there. My parents don't really like hectic lifestyles."

"Because Ithaca gets so crazy," he smirked at me. I didn't want to, but I smiled. "Do you ever miss it? Washington, I mean."

"I do," I answered, being honest for the first time. "We had a lot of family friends on the Quileute reservation there and some of my family lives in Forks. We used to get together all of the time and have bonfires on the beach." The mental image popped into my head and my heart ached for the smell of salt water and the bright colors of the bonfires. "Some of my best memories are from that beach."

My honesty apparently caught us both off-guard. "That sounds like a great way to grow up," he said, and I could tell that he really meant it. "I grew up here and I don't think I ever did anything half as cool as go to a bonfire on the beach."

"Please!" I had to laugh. "New York's not exactly the most boring place on Earth."

"No," he admitted, "But my mom doesn't like to go into the city and we never really had much money to do anything else. But I didn't have a bad childhood or anything," he quickly added.

"Well, if you get a chance, you should go visit. I think you'd really like it. It's beautiful out there."

His eyes sparkled at me and I wanted to punch him. "Maybe you can show me one day."

* * *

_A/N: Hey guys! I promise this IS a Jake and Nessie story, I just always figured that imprinting wouldn't necessarily make everything easy for both of them. There are still people out there who are liable to have crushes on them ;) I'll be skipping ahead in the next few chapters though, so we can move the story along. I want to apologize for the delay in updating. School started again and it's kind of crazy keeping up with everything. I will always update though, eventually! So many ideas for this story. Thanks for sticking with me! _


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N- So this chapter is a little different than most. The last POV in this chapter isn't one we're going to see very often, but one I think that starts tying some threads together. This chapter is definitely T rated, with some strong language and teenage boy sex talk. Nothing graphic! Just, you know, typical teenage boy stuff. If anyone feels that the rating should be upped to M for this reason, let me know! I'd also like to note (so people don't get too alarmed and since I don't think it's been mentioned before) that Aaron isn't in the same grade as Nessie. She's a freshman even though she looks about fifteen and he's a junior. SO! Without further ado... Chapter 7._

* * *

_Bella_

College had grown on me. I loved the fact that I read and wrote essays all day. It especially helped that I had read most of the books before. Edward had taken a completely different path and spent all of his time in the laboratory set-up Carlisle had put upstairs and punching formulas into his calculator. But it worked for him. I figured after this, he'd want to go on to med school and I'd support him. I might even go wherever he was going and get a PhD. I don't know what I'd _do _with it, but it would probably look nice on the wall.

In the mean time, I kept up with all of my studies and did my best to have dinner waiting for Ness when she came home after school. Edward and I always sat with her, even though we never ate, and it was nice to have that time as a family. Every once in a while, we'd go up to Canada together and hunt, but our schedules had been so opposite lately, it had been hard to find the time.

There was no denying that Ness was growing up. Each day, she came home with crazy stories about things that her friends had done or things she'd seen in school that day. I knew that she was talking about one boy, Aaron, more often than not. It didn't seem she liked him. She just didn't know how to deal with his advances. Luckily, this was one part of the dating realm that I actually had experience with.

One Saturday, I had taken her out to the park and had told her the story about Mike Newton. I didn't really remember much from my human memories, but Edward liked to tease me about Mike to this day, so I knew enough from what he'd told me. I had told her how I had actually always been interested in her father, but that Mike was never able to take the hint.

I wondered if I should have told her about Jake's awkward advances, too, but I figured that was his decision to make. She had asked me what I had done about Mike and I told her that I'd just told him over and over again that I wasn't interested. Sometimes that was the most you could do. She had said she was going to take my advice, but I hadn't asked her lately how that had gone for her so, a few weeks later, after chasing Edward out of the house for a little bit, I cooked some steak for her and set it on the table, waiting for her to come home.

"Hey, mom!" She said as she opened the front door. I heard her throw her backpack on the couch and winced. I was always telling her not to leave her things in the living room and she never listened. I'd have to work on that with her later.

"Hey, Ness! How was your day today?"

She stopped dead in the doorway, eyeballing the steak suspiciously. "Why are you feeding me?"

"Because I'm your mother! Is that a crime?"

"Pretty good. What's up?"

It hadn't escaped her notice that Edward wasn't sitting with us today. "Nothing! I just wanted to ask you how it had gone with Aaron."

She let out a loud breath and collapsed into the chair, picking up her knife and fork before tearing angrily into the poor, unsuspecting piece of meat. "Well, I did what you told me to do, but he just wouldn't listen. I don't know how to get it through his head."

"He hasn't done anything to make you uncomfortable, has he?"

She looked up at me like I was crazy. "No. He likes me too much to do anything like that. He's just so persistent, like he thinks he's going to change my mind about him. It's not that I _really _hate him, I'm just not interested in him romantically. Why can't he see?" She ended on a slightly hysterical note.

While it was good to know that he wasn't doing anything to her that made her uneasy, I could tell that this whole situation was exasperating her.

She shoveled piece after piece of steak into her mouth, hardly stopping for breath. "Maybe I could ask Jake to stop by and scare him off or something. Didn't you say he scared off Mike Newton for a while?"

"Yeah, he did do that," I answered quietly.

"Do you think he'd do that for me, mom? If I asked? I figured it wouldn't be too hard for him since he already picks me up from school sometimes…"

"I'm sure he'd do it if you asked. Just make sure to go easy on Aaron. He can't help it."

"Not what you said about Mike Newton," she reminded me, pointing her fork in my direction.

"Yes, but that was different because Mike Newton was an idiot."

"Trust me, mom, if you could meet Aaron, I think you'd say the same."

I hadn't told Renesmee that what had finally made Mike leave me alone was that I started dating Edward. I didn't want her to think that she had to date one boy just to avoid another. Still, I wondered if the time was coming when we should give permission for Jake to pursue Nessie. I didn't think that their relationship was quite there _yet _but it was getting there. Every day, I watched Ness become more confident and mature. The vampire in her gave her a surreal beauty and her family had given her a sense of pride and compassion.

Jake still looked at her like she was his best friend, but I could probably count the number of months on my fingers where that would still be the case. And I knew that even sooner than that, she would start seeing Jake in a different way. Thinking about all of it made my head spin.

"So do you think I should ask Jake?" she asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"If Aaron doesn't lay off in a couple of months, maybe."

_Renesmee_

In the middle of October was midterm week and it was hell. Like, I'd heard people talk about it in movies and stuff, but I had never thought it would be that bad. I'd defended by imprint _against the Volturi _and had fought off more blood-thirsty vampires than I could count and midterm week was still kicking my ass. I didn't understand how humans did this. I think if I weren't part supernatural, I would've died. To celebrate the end of hell week, Ness and I were going to go to the movies after I picked her up from school. I was excited to not think about school for a while and spend time with my favorite person on the planet.

I waited for her in the front parking lot, like I did every time I picked her up, but this time, she ran up to the car and banged on my window.

"Is everything okay?" My first thought was that something horrible had happened and my protective instincts were kicking in.

"Yeah, no, everything's fine. I was just wondering if you would do be a favor."

"Sure, what is it?"

She paused for a really long time and stared at me with her big brown eyes. "I need you to go into the school and pretend to be my boyfriend. Remember that guy, Aaron? He's still trying to get me to go to dinner with him and I can't stand it anymore. Please? Don't be too mean. Just, tell him to…. calm down or something."

I immediately regretted agreeing to this. Yeah, she was my imprint and the thought of someone else asking her on a date was enough to make me phase. But I didn't think I could _calmly _ask him to leave her alone. I just wasn't strong enough.

"Please?" she added, pouting out her lower lip.

"Fine." I got out of the car while every part of my brain screamed at me that this was a bad idea. I followed her around to the back of the school, where the entrance to the band hall was. Just inside the door, there was a group of boys. I could recognize Aaron from the description she had given me. He was as tall, blonde, and annoyingly handsome as she'd made him sound, which just made my job harder. 'Deep breath in, deep breath out,' I reminded myself. I did _not _need to phase in front of Ness's classmates.

Ness walked in front of me and tapped Aaron on the shoulder. When he turned around to face her, I almost walked away. He would never love Ness the way I did, but I could tell from his expression that he cared about her a whole lot. I could also tell that he'd seen me out of the corner of his eye and knew what was coming. The heartbreak was already there.

"Hey, Aaron. I wanted to introduce you to my boyfriend, Jake."

My heart sputtered when she called me that. I knew we were just pretending but I really liked the way that sounded.

"Jake, this is Aaron. Aaron, this is Jake."

We shook hands and he re-arranged his features into a smile. "Hey, Jake. Nice to meet you. I was beginning to think Ness was making you up."

"Nope. Pretty real. So… Ness tells me you're a really good trumpet player." I pretended not to see the sad look he gave to Ness when her head was turned to look at me.

"I'm not too bad. Anyway, she mentioned that you guys were going to go see a movie and I don't want to make you late. It was nice meeting you."

Another handshake. I never understood why people were so big into those. "You alright, man?" he asked before he released my hand the second time. "You're burning up."

I laughed nervously. Who was this guy, anyway? "Yeah, probably just have a slight fever."

"I know it's not my place, man, but you might want to get rest or something. There's been a flu going around for the past few weeks and I know it usually starts with a fever."

"Yep, that's probably it. See you around." I grabbed Ness's hand and we pretended not to run back around the school to my car.

Once we were inside and on our way to the movies, I could finally let out a breath of relief. Ness, on the other hand, didn't really seem pre-occupied.

"That was weird."

"Yeah," she agreed, "he's really observant."

"You sure he doesn't know you're a vampire?" I teased, giving her my best goofy grin.

She rolled her eyes but gave me a tiny half-smile. "Pretty sure. I think if he knew that, he'd leave me alone."

_Aaron_

So the boyfriend was real. I wasn't exactly _surprised_. She was hot, funny, and smart and from what I had learned about dating, that was a rare trifecta. I had been hoping, entirely for selfish reasons, that she had been lying but that didn't turn out to be the case. Normally, I'd say, "Oh well," and move on to the next one, because there was almost alwaysa next one. But this time was different, and it was an uncomfortable feeling.

"Tough luck, man," Austin had said as soon as Ness and her boy toy had left. "Your sister's still having that party tonight though. Maybe you could hook up with that college girl again. She's almost as hot as Nessie."

This boy had officially lost his mind. "Elle? Are you blind, Austin? Ness is like, inhumanly beautiful. Elle's just kind of… trashy chic."

This time, it was Austin's turn to look at me like I was crazy. I guess to him, there was no reason on Earth to turn down sex with a college girl, but it was just because he hadn't found someone amazing yet. Even though, truthfully, Austin would be lucky to get _anything_ from anyone. Poor kid. "Anyway, I'm going to head out. I'll see you tonight?"

He nodded, a ridiculous grin on his face tonight. Maybe I could help him out with Elle tonight. If I could put some good karma in the world, I might be able to get some back.

Rheanna and her little possie, who had been watching me since Nessie brought over her 'boyfriend' gave me sympathetic looks before they all filed back inside. It was a weird feeling- rejection- and the worst part about it was the sad looks people gave you. I decided it was probably time to get out of there.

I didn't live too far from the school so it took me all of ten minutes to get home. Like my sister, Charlotte, and I had predicted, our mom was nowhere to be found. Growing up, I had always tried to cut her some slack. She was a single mom trying to raise two kids in a tiny salary. As I had gotten older, though, I had realized that the reason the salary was so tiny was because she'd blown it all on alcohol and her boyfriends. Then it was hard to feel sorry for her. Charlotte, being older and therefore more wiser, had learned long ago that our mother never paid attention to a thing we did. So, when we were in middle school, we started throwing parties. Our mom was always more than happy to let us break into her liquor cabinet so people loved coming over.

Even though Charlotte was supposed to be a freshman at Cornell now, I never saw her go to class. Mostly, she just sat at home, played video games, drank, and planned parties. I would've been more worried about her except that my friends would've killed me if I had the parties stopped. After all, I was their gateway to banging college chicks.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" she asked as soon as I was through the door. Apparently, keeping time was not one of her strong suits.

"It's over now," I explained, walking over to the shitty little kitchen to rummage for food. As usual, there was nothing there. I settled for cheap White Zinfandel and fell onto the couch. "Remember that girl I told you about?"

"Al-something?"

"No, that was last year." I couldn't help but scowl at the memory. That had _not _been a good time. "Nessie."

"Oh, yeah. What about her?"

"It turns out she really does have a boyfriend."

"Tough shit. Just move on."

I didn't even know why I attempted to have conversations with her. Since this was clearly not going anywhere, I decided to change the topic. "Where's mom?"

For the first time sine I'd gotten home, she paused the game she was playing and turned around. "Probably with one of her boyfriends," she sneered.

Not surprising. When I thought about it, I didn't know why I hadn't figured it out before. It was all old hat. Our house was _literally _a hell hole and my mom was out with her boyfriend at Days Inn or something. Man, I hated this place. I hated my mom, and sometimes, I was pretty sure I hated Charlotte. I was glad I'd somehow managed to build a pretty decent life in school.

For some reason, people thought I was cool. I let people think whatever they wanted to, but I never told them about this- about home. I didn't really know how to "be cool" but I figured cool people probably didn't have depressingly shitty home lives. I reflexively pulled out my phone to text 'Al-something' but then remembered we weren't on speaking terms. "You know what," I stood up and re-corked the bottle. "I think I have somewhere to be."

If Charlotte heard me, she didn't say anything. I did a few field sobriety tests on myself to make sure I was good enough to drive and as soon as I finished the backwards alphabet, grabbed my keys and wallet, and headed back out to the car. Hopefully, Nessie and Jake's movie hadn't started yet.


End file.
